God’s Secret Things
In a less than a week, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, will be celebrated. While New Year’s celebrations are nice (the Jewish calendar actually has four of them!), Rosh Hashana’s…
Curse You – Not!
In a perfect world, one would never feel such intense anger at another person that one would actually wish them harm. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world. When emotions run high, some…
Feast of Gratitude
While the majority of the sacrifices enumerated in the Torah are related to atonement for sins or to celebrate feast days, the sh'lamim, peace offerings, were unique because they were not…
God’s Secret Things
In a little over a week, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, will be celebrated. While New Year’s celebrations are nice (the Jewish calendar actually has four of them!), Rosh Hashana’s…
Rising Early
Anthropologists, sociologists and others who study the ways of different cultures all recognize the importance of language in understanding a people. It is commonly stated (whether true…
Don’t Shame The Name
The concept of “Chilul Hashem,” desecration of God’s name, is first mentioned in the Torah in Leviticus (22:32), when the Jewish people are commanded: “You shall not shame My Holy Name;…
Feast of Gratitude
While the majority of the sacrifices enumerated in the Torah are related to atonement for sins or to celebrate feast days, the sh'lamim, peace offerings, were unique because they were not…
Re’eh 5767-2007
"Prohibition Against Excessive Grief" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Re'eh, we learn of the prohibition of excessive mourning and grief for those who pass…
Bereshith 5781-2020
“The Origins and Meaning of Evil” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5762-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald After 9/11 and the World Trade Center terrorist bombings, we thought…
Happy Birthday Birkat Hamazon
The Torah (Exodus 16:1) reports that the Children of Israel arrived at the Wilderness of Sin on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Iyar, approximately one month after the exodus from Egypt.…